I must apologise for the time that has elapsed since my last blog! After many weeks on the road, real life needed some attention. Thank you for all your continued support and for being so patient while the album is being completed.

The album - this is still such an exciting concept for me! I can't believe that there will soon be a "real" CD that I can hold in my hand...ideas that tumbled randomly from my head onto a two-dimensional page have been nurtured and shaped by some very clever musicians and have taken on a whole new life.

Before the tour, the band laid down the basic instrumental tracks for about 16 songs at Air Studios in Hampstead. This phase was completed in three days - a feat which could not have been reached without the extraordinary talents of all involved. This fast way of working has given the tracks a very uncontrived and natural feel, I hope. I really did spend quite a bit of my time at Air sitting at the back of the studio listening to them with my jaw on the ground. Since the end of the tour, my producer Mike Batt and I have had a chance to go back and revisit these tracks and assess what they now need to make them into "records" - those extra layers of sound which give each song its individuality, colour and mood. I have also been putting down final vocals on a lot of the tracks. At a guess, we will probably need another couple of weeks before the album is finished. I will definitely let you all know when we have an approximate release date.

Last Friday week we did the photo shoot for the album cover, booklet and general publicity shots. This involved a considerable amount of preparation and thought as the visual elements of the album really had to align with the tracks themselves. It was fun though! We did the shoot in a very quirky warehouse space in North London that provided us with a great playground - mismatched chairs, old mannequins, odd parts from carnival rides. I really love vintage clothes so a lot of the outfits were sourced at a funky stall we found in Notting Hill.

I am in the studio again later this week so will give you another update next week. I hope you are enjoying summer as much as I am! I am quite addicted to watching the European Cup and keeping busy trying to get rid of my British winter skin!

Andrea x